


By Dawn's Light

by Mangoesaregood8



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: 33-Year-Old Gladiolus Amicitia, Angst, Blind Ignis Scientia, Daemons, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Feels, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2020-01-14 15:12:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18478822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mangoesaregood8/pseuds/Mangoesaregood8
Summary: Noctis has already gone into the Citadel alone. Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto are fighting for their lives when they notice the sky starts to lighten for the first time in years.





	By Dawn's Light

They had been at this for what felt like hours. Gladio swung his sword at the next daemon that lunged at him. His sword made contact, and the demon dissolved into a puddle of black goo. One down, how many more to go now? He, Ignis, and Prompto had to have killed over a hundred daemons by now, but no matter how many they killed, the daemons just kept coming. They were backed up to the entrance of the Citadel with daemons surrounding them on all other sides. They had no choice but to fight their way out. It was killed or be killed.

“How many of them do you think there are?” Prompto asked as he slid in front of Gladio to get a better aim at an approaching Naga. He fired two bullets straight into the monster’s head, but it kept slithering towards him.  
“It can’t be too much longer now,” Ignis said. He turned towards the sound of scales of the broken pavement, and threw a dagger towards the sound. The dagger sunk in between the monster’s eyes and it finally went down.

Gladio jumped over Prompto’s head to attack a giant insect that was buzzing straight for Prompto’s head. Gladio’s sword slashed through the insect as he landed, and he turned to strike again. These daemons were stronger than the ones they had encountered throughout Eos. Much stronger. Daemons that Gladio could usually take down in one hit were still standing after two or three.

“Why are these thing so strong?”

“It’s still dark out. They’ve had ten years to build their strength,” Ignis said as he dodged an attack from a nearby daemon. While his sight hadn’t returned, his hearing had gotten more sensitive, allowing him to still have an advantage on the battlefield.

“Iggy, watch out!” Prompto exclaimed.

Ignis ducked and rolled out of the way as Prompto aimed at an oncoming monster. This one took four bullets before it fell to the ground. Their eyes had adjusted to the darkness a long time ago, but it was still difficult to fight when it was so dark around them.  
As that daemon dissolved, four more appeared to take its place.

“Guys, I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up,” Prompto said. 

“You don’t have a choice,” Gladio said between clenched teeth. He slashed at a tentacle that tried to wrap itself around his waist. “We gotta protect Noct. We can’t let these things in the Citadel.”

“Gladio’s right,” Ignis said. He readjusted his grip on his daggers and threw one at a daemon that was slithering closer to his left. “Noct is our only hope to bring back the light. We can’t give up on him.”

“Let’s hope he brings it back soon. I don’t think we can hold those guys off very long,” Prompto said as he gestured to the horde of daemons that was closing in on them.

“Damn… Where did they all come from?” Gladio asked.

“How many are there?” Ignis asked.

“No clue. There’s too many to count.”

“Guys? What do we do?” Prompto asked.

“The same thing we’ve been doing,” Gladio said. “We keep fighting.” He tightened his grip on his sword to prepare for the onslaught.

“We have to protect Noct at all costs,” Ignis said. He could hear the faint thud of footfalls. They weren’t close enough for him to attack yet.

“Yeah. Well, it was nice knowing you guys.” Prompto reloaded his pistols and took aim. “Let’s do this.”

They stepped closer together as the daemons closed in on them. Gladio waited until the closest of them was a few feet away before attack. He swung his sword as hard as he could and the blade sliced through the daemon’s body with ease. It fell to the ground and started melting. He swung at the next one and it also went down in one hit. He attacked a third, and it went down just as easily.

“Hey these guys are easier to kill,” Prompto said. He had fired three times, taking a daemon down with each shot.

“They might be weaker, but don’t let your guard down,” Ignis said. He changed to a frost blade and slashed through the nearest enemy. It also went down in one hit.

“Ask questions later. Keep killing them,” Gladio ordered. He kept attacking each daemon that dared to get close enough for him to reach, and slowly they went down one by one. His limbs were heavy with exhaustion, but he forced himself to keep moving. He couldn’t give up now. None of them could.

They had killed enough daemons to make a small gap, and Gladio noticed that the daemons’ attacks were getting slower and slower. Some of the weaker daemons were even turning and running away.

“Do you see that?” Prompto asked. He took the brief reprieve to reload again.

“What’s happening?” Ignis asked.

“Some of the daemons are running away,” Gladio replied.

“And they sound like they’re getting hurt, but we’re not attacking them,” Prompto said.

“Hang on a minute.” Gladio looked up at the sky. The pitch black they had grown so accustomed to above them was growing lighter and lighter.

The sky grew lighter as it changed from black to a glowing red orange.

“What is it?” Ignis asked.

Prompto lowered his pistols as he looked up. The sky grew even paler, shifting from a burning orange to pink with hints of light blue. “Is that…?”

“What is it?” Ignis repeated.

Finally, the sun peaked out over the horizon and started its ascent into the sky. As it rose, the demons around disappeared one by one, melting into puddles of black go before dissipating all together.

Ignis turned as he felt something warm caressing his face. “The sun?”

“Yeah.” Gladio set his sword down and it clattered to the ground. 

“I guess he did it,” Prompto said.

They watched in silence as the sun rose through the sky, shining over Eos for the first time in ten years. After living so long in darkness, the sun’s light was welcome, but felt harsh as it grew stronger and stronger. Gladio shielded his eyes with his hands as he watched the shadows disappear from the city. Now he could see just how much damage Ardyn and his daemons had done to the city. Most of the buildings had been destroyed. They were little more than piles of rubble. Only the Citadel remained intact save for a hole blasted through the throne room. The streets were littered with rubble and chunks of pavement. The damage would take years to rebuild. If they rebuilt it. 

“I guess it's all over now,” Prompto said. He sniffed and dabbed at his eyes with his sleeve. They were puffier and redder than usual with unshed tears. 

“Noct gave everything so that we could start over. It's not the end. It's a new beginning,” Ignis said. 

“It doesn't feel like a new beginning…” Prompto's eyes were glued to the ground. 

“We'll make it one,” Gladio said. He rubbed at his face and sat down on the steps of the Citadel. His exhaustion was finally catching up with him.

Ignis sat down next to him and sighed. “I wish I could see it. I know it's beautiful.”

Gladio nodded. “Yeah. It is.” And it was. He never thought he would appreciate a sunrise so much. But a sunrise like this didn't happen everyday. They sacrificed so much over the past ten years. They lost their homes, their families. Their best friend. 

“So what are we going to do now?” Prompto asked. 

“I don't know. Whatever we want I guess,” Gladio replied. Ignis and Gladio were now out of a job and Prompto was just tagging along for the ride. Gladio had trained all his life to be a soldier. It was drilled into him ever since he was old enough to walk. He was the King's shield. That's who he was And now… who was he? He wasn't a shield anymore. He wasn't a soldier anymore. He was just Gladio. 

“Maybe you could start up that restaurant Iggy,” Prompto suggested. “If you ever need an official taste tester, I don't mind helping out.”

“I'll think about it. I think we need to rebuild a few things first before we focus on luxuries,” Ignis said. 

“Yeah that's true. I wanna help Cindy rebuild her garage,”Prompto said. 

“She'll need customers first. I'm not sure many people made it out with their cars. Finding fuel was too dangerous as was traveling by vehicle,” Ignis said. 

“Yeah I know. But it's good to have a plan, right?” Prompto asked. “What are you going to do Gladio?”

Gladio shrugged. “I don't know yet.” He pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts. “All I know is someone has to tell Iris.”

**Author's Note:**

> I had a lot of fun writing this one. It really hit me in the feels T.T I've been wanting to write this piece for a while now but emotions are really hard for me to write. Hopefully I did the Chocobros some justice.


End file.
